The Canadian government has amassed both human and signals intelligence in a months-long investigation of a Sikh activist’s death that has inflamed relations with India, sources tell CBC News.
That intelligence includes communications involving Indian officials themselves, including Indian diplomats present in Canada, say Canadian government sources.
The intelligence did not come solely from Canada. Some was provided by an unnamed ally in the Five Eyes intelligence alliance.
In a diplomatic crisis that unfolded progressively behind the scenes, Canadian officials went to India on several occasions seeking co-operation in the investigation of Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s death.
The Sikh leader was shot dead outside a Sikh temple in Surrey, B.C., on June 18 and reportedly had been warned by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service that he was at risk.
Canada’s National Security and Intelligence Adviser Jody Thomas was in India over four days in mid-August, then again for five days this month.
That last visit overlapped with a tense meeting between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, left, walks past Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as they take part in a wreath-laying ceremony at Raj Ghat, Mahatma Gandhi’s cremation site, during the G20 Summit in New Delhi on Sunday, Sept. 10, 2023. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Associated Press)
Canadian sources say that, when pressed behind closed doors, no Indian official has denied the bombshell allegation at the core of this case — that there is evidence to suggest Indian government involvement in the assassination of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil.
“I can assure you that the decision to share these allegations on the floor of the House of Commons … was not done lightly,” Trudeau said Thursday in New York after attending the United Nations General Assembly.
“It was done with the utmost seriousness.”
The Canadian government has not released its evidence and has suggested it could emerge during an eventual legal process.
India accuses Canada of sheltering terrorists
The dispute has poisoned Canada’s relationship with India, a growing international power, just as the United States is courting it as a potential ally.
The Indian government has fumed at Canada for — in its view — sheltering Sikh separatists, including Nijjar, whom it called a terrorist.
The growing feud already has resulted in the expulsion of diplomats from both Canada and India. It escalated Thursday when India stopped processing visitor visas in Canada.
Canada is weighing retaliation but has taken no decision yet, said government sources in Ottawa. Trudeau dodged that question Thursday.
When asked about the intelligence reports, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said she couldn’t comment without risking the investigation and Canada’s obligations to its Five Eyes partners.
“That partnership rests very much on those… intelligence conversations being held in confidence,” she told CBC News Network’s Power & Politics host David Cochrane.
Asked if Ottawa is thinking about retaliating by pausing visa processing for Indian visitors, Freeland said the government is focused on bringing the killers to justice.
“This is not about geopolitics. This is about Canada, the safety of Canadians in Canada. This is about the rule of law,” she said.
India says Canada has reputation as ‘safe haven’ for terrorists, criminals
A spokesperson for India’s Ministry of External Affairs, taking questions after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused India of being linked to the killing of a Sikh leader in B.C., says Canada has a growing reputation as a safe haven for ‘terrorists, for extremists and for organized crime.’
No exemption for allies on ‘actions like this’: U.S.
The story has reverberated internationally, including in Washington. There were several questions about it during the White House daily briefing.
The U.S. government has not confirmed or denied that it was the Five Eyes ally providing some of the signals intelligence.
But one of the most senior officials in the U.S. government confirmed that the United States has been in frequent contact with Canada on this issue.
Canada’s India allegations ‘something we take seriously’: White House
The U.S. has been in contact with Indian officials ‘at high levels’ over Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s allegations that India’s government may have been involved in the killing of a Canadian Sikh leader, U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on Thursday.
The official, U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, revealed that the U.S. also has discussed the matter with the highest levels of the Indian government.
He said the U.S. is deeply concerned and wants to see the investigation continue and the perpetrators brought to justice.
He insisted that U.S. interest in this case will not disappear simply because it involves India, a powerful democracy with which it craves closer ties.
“It is something we take seriously. It is something we will keep working on. And we will do that regardless of the country,” said Sullivan.
“There’s not some special exemption you get for actions like this. Regardless of the country, we will stand up and defend our basic principles.”
He also aggressively pushed back on media reports suggesting that the U.S. had declined to defend Canada on the matter.
“I have seen in the press some efforts to try to drive a wedge between the U.S. and Canada on this issue. I firmly reject that there is a wedge between the U.S. and Canada,” he said.
The Financial Times reported late Thursday that U.S. President Joe Biden and other Five Eyes members raised the killing with Modi directly during the recent G20 summit. The report cited three sources familiar with the discussions.
The Canadian government has refused to discuss Modi’s awareness of, or involvement in, the case. The Indian government did not respond to the CBC’s requests for comment.
Canada’s Ambassador to the United Nations Bob Rae. (Eduardo Munoz/Reuters)
When asked how far accountability could go, and whether Ottawa expected legal repercussions for people higher up in the Indian government, Canada’s ambassador to the UN steered wide of the question.
“I’d rather not go there. I don’t think it’s smart for me to do that,” Bob Rae replied at a news conference.
“I like my job. I would rather not lose it.”
He added that the murder of a Canadian, on Canadian soil, is an affront to both the victim and to Canada’s national sovereignty, its territory and a common international understanding of boundaries.
HOUSTON (AP) — Brian White scored in the second half to rally the Vancouver Whitecaps to a 1-1 draw with the Houston Dynamo on Wednesday night.
Houston (12-9-8) took a 1-0 lead into halftime after Ezequiel Ponce scored on a penalty kick in the seventh minute of stoppage time. Ponce’s third goal this season came after Amine Bassi drew a foul on Whitecaps midfielder Pedro Vite following a video review. It was Ponce’s sixth career appearance, all starts.
Vancouver (13-8-7) scored the equalizer in the 73rd minute when White, who entered in the 60th, used assists from Fafá Picault and Ryan Gauld to find the net for the 13th time this season. Picault’s assist was his fifth, matching his career high for a single season. Gauld’s assist gives him a career-best 13 on the season.
Yohei Takaoka, who had clean sheets in his last three starts, finished with one save in goal for the Whitecaps.
Steve Clark saved three shots for the Dynamo, who remain one point behind Vancouver in the Western Conference standings.
Houston, which was coming off a 4-1 victory over Real Salt Lake, has allowed just 33 goals this season.
Vancouver — 6-2-2 in its last 10 matches overall — leads the all-time series 10-9-6.
The Whitecaps remain on the road to play the Los Angeles Galaxy on Saturday. The Dynamo travel to play Austin FC on Saturday.
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Tom Pearce and Nathan Saliba scored in the second half — the first goals of their careers — and CF Montreal rallied for a 2-2 draw with the New England Revolution on Wednesday night.
“In the second half, the guys came out a little more ambitious and above all, more connected,” Montreal head coach Laurent Courtois said. “It was a great second half of resilience and fighting spirit. Nathan and Sam were impressive.
“Impressive in covering the gaps and compensating for the teammates, and the individual defending – yes it’s true, it is a lot of weight on their shoulders, but that’s the job.”
New England (8-16-4) jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the 24th minute on Bobby Wood’s third goal of the season. Teenage defender Peyton Miller notched his first assist in his fourth career start and sixth appearance and Carles Gil picked up his ninth of the season. Peyton, at 16 years, 315 days old, is the eighth youngest player in league history to record his first assist.
The Revolution took a two-goal lead in the 35th minute and held it through halftime when 19-year-old Esmir Bajraktarevic took a pass from Gil and scored his third goal of the season and career in his first full season in the league. It was the 73rd regular-season assist in Gil’s career, tying him with Steve Ralston for the most in club history.
Montreal (7-12-10) pulled within a goal in the 54th minute when Pearce scored off a free kick after defender George Campbell drew a foul on New England’s Mark-Anthony Kaye. It was the first goal for Pearce in his third career start and fourth appearance.
“Playoffs are the goal. Maybe it wasn’t in the best form, but in the end, we are picking up a point,” Pearce said. “We came into this game confident, ready to play our own game. Everyone tries their best, whenever the players are called on, we are always ready, and we are always giving it our best.”
Montreal scored the equalizer in the 68th minute on the first career goal by Saliba, a 20-year-old midfielder. Saliba has made 34 starts and 48 appearances with Montreal in his two seasons in the league. Campbell snagged his second assist of the season and the third of his career.
“It’s an incredible feeling, it’s a goal I’ve been waiting for a long time. I’m extremely happy that I was able to score it and that it can help the team take this important point on the road,” Saliba said. “Pearce’s first goal gave us really good momentum and we kept up the pressure to go for a second goal. We got more solid defensively, and we came back ready after halftime, to push for these 3 points.”
Aljaz Ivacic finished with four saves in goal for the Revolution.
Jonathan Sirois stopped four shots for Montreal.
New England beat Montreal 5-0 on the road on Aug. 24.
New England leads the all-time series 16-13-4. Montreal improves to 5-8-2 on the road against the Revs.
The Revolution travel to take on Charlotte FC on Saturday. Montreal returns home to host the Chicago Fire on Saturday.
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Adolis García hit a two-run home run in the sixth inning, Cody Bradford pitched seven strong innings after the worst start of his career, and the Texas Rangers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 2-0 on Wednesday night.
The win kept the defending World Series-champion Rangers alive in the AL West race, trailing first-place Houston by 10 games with 10 to play.
García launched an inside sinker over the left-field wall off Toronto starter Bowden Francis (8-5) after Wyatt Langford singled.
“He swings hard, he swings a lot,” Francis said of García. “I guess the velo was dropping during that time.”
Bradford (6-3) allowed five hits and no walks while striking out six.
The seven shutout innings are the most in a game during his two-year career. He was knocked out of his previous start after allowing career highs in hits (nine), runs (eight) and homers (three) in 3 2/3 innings in a 14-4 loss at Arizona.
“Throughout the week, you’ve got to try and digest what happened, see where I can make adjustments, whether it was just game plan went wrong or just poor execution, or a little bit of both,” Bradford said. “Then you flush it.”
Bradford was perfect through four innings before Alejandro Kirk opened the fifth with a smash back to the mound that caromed off Bradford’s left foot and rolled into right field for a single. It extended Kirk’s hitting streak to a career-high 12 games.
Spencer Horwitz’s double to left-center put runners on second and third with no outs before Bradford retired the next three batters.
Blue Jays manager John Schneider credited Bradford’s “deceptive fastball.”
“When you’re throwing 89, 92, you’ve got to have pretty good deception with that at this level,” Schneider said. “Kept us off balance.”
Kirby Yates pitched a perfect ninth inning for his 31st save in 32 opportunities.
Francis, who took no-hitters into the ninth inning in two of his previous four starts, allowed a double to Marcus Semien, the Rangers’ first hitter of the game. He gave up five hits and one walk in six innings.
Francis has a 1.96 ERA in nine starts with 54 strikeouts and seven walks since being moved back into the starting rotation in late July.
“I don’t even want to get complacent, on cruise control,” Francis said. “Just keep attacking.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Blue Jays: SS Bo Bichette was a late scratch with a right middle finger contusion suffered during infield practice. Schneider said the team will get back x-rays on Thursday. Bichette was activated Tuesday following a calf injury and played for the first time in two months, going 2 for 5 with one RBI at the plate. … INF Will Wagner (left knee inflammation) will have the knee scoped on Thursday. Schneider said Wagner should be ready to start spring training. Wagner, son of former major leaguer Billy Wagner, was acquired from Houston at the trade deadline.
UP NEXT
Rangers rookie RHP Kumar Rocker (0-0, 2.25 ERA) will make his home debut against Blue Jays RHP Kevin Gausman (12-11, 4.02) in the series finale. Rocker allowed one run in four innings at Seattle last Thursday in his major league debut.
